Conventionally, in the computer-related arts, a network is an arrangement of physical computer systems configured to communicate with each other. In some cases, the physical computer systems may include virtual machines, which may also be configured to interact with the network (i.e., communicate with other physical computers and/or virtual machines in the network). Many different types of networks exist, and a network may be classified based on various aspects of the network, such as scale, connection method, functional relationship of computer systems in the network, and/or network topology.
Regarding connection methods, a network may be broadly categorized as wired (i.e., using a tangible connection medium such as Ethernet cables) or wireless (i.e., using an intangible connection medium such as radio waves). Different connection methods may also be combined in a single network. For example, a wired network may be extended to allow devices to connect to the network wirelessly. However, core network components such as routers, switches, and servers are generally connected using physical wires.
To create a wired network, computer systems must be physically connected to each other. That is, the ends of physical wires (e.g., Ethernet cables) must be physically connected to network interface cards in the computer systems forming the network. To reconfigure the network (e.g., to replace a server or change the network topology), one or more of the physical wires must be disconnected from a computer system and connected to a different computer system.
Network traffic may be transmitted over a network (e.g., the Internet) from a sending system to a receiving system (e.g., from one computer system to another computer system). Each system may be configured with a physical network interface card (PNIC). A PNIC is a physical hardware device found in a typical computer system that may be used to service one or more network connections by sending and receiving network traffic. Typically, network traffic is transmitted in the form of data packets, where each data packet includes a header and a payload. The header contains information regarding the source address, destination address, size, transport protocol used to transmit the data packet, and various other information associated with the data packet. The payload contains the actual data to be transmitted to the receiving system.